What You Need to Know Today: September 16

Good afternoon, Early Risers!

Here’s what you need to know

TECH

The truth about Facebook’s “dislike button.” “A thumbs up is inherently goofy. It’s for Little League coaches and guys named Chad. The last time an upward pointing thumb carried any emotional weight was in the late days of the Roman Colosseum.” In an informal Q&A at Facebook HQ this week, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that a “dislike button” would be coming soon. “Finally” has been the popular response by many. But, here’s why Facebook doesn’t need (or even want) a “dislike button.” Note: Facebook’s fastest growing demographic is over 65+. Can you imagine grandma liking your photos with emojis?

The story everyone is talking about. “How many of you own a power drill? That power drill will be used around 12 to 15 minutes in its entire lifetime. It’s kind of ridiculous, isn’t it? Because what you need is the hole, not the drill. Why don’t you rent the drill? Or rent out your own drill to other people and make some money from it?” When Rachel Botsman gave this speech in her TEDxSydney Talk in 2010, she had no idea the influence it would have on the “sharing economy” as we know it today. But the story everyone is talking about is Sarah Kessler’s FastCo piece: The sharing economy is dead, and we killed it. Dave Pell made an important observation, he said “Maybe there’s another question worth asking: Do we really want the legacy of our tech revolution to be that we invented a way to monetize borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbor?” This is a question we should all think about today. What kind of legacy do you want to leave?

CAREER

The ONE and only way to validate your product. “If you’re building a business, there’s only one way to ensure that your product idea is good: are people paying money for it?” Sound familiar? ETR founder, Mark Ford says the two fundamental skills you need to start any business are: 1) You have to know how to make a sale. 2) You have to be able to put that sales process into action. Justin Jackson shares his story about the first time he realized this fundamental truth and his ultimate product validation guide.

This 26-year old’s company could save the world. How do you sell clean water to poor people? You tell them about the immediate benefits; not that drinking clean water will save their life. I love this story. In 2013, Minhaj Chowdhury started Drinkwell, an organization that provides filtration systems to poor communities with dangerously high levels of arsenic and fluoride in their water. Chowdhury’s decision for making Drinkwell a for-profit company and his team’s innovative breakthrough have all contributed to the early success of Drinkwell. Read the full story.

How to get a promotion while on maternity leave. Women have long struggled with how to simultaneously start a family and move ahead in their careers. The two often feel at odds with one another, but for Ann Cairns, president of international markets at MasterCard, the two have gone hand-in-hand (Fast Company).

Sad news: Scott Dinsmore, author of Live Your Legend passed away Monday after a freak climbing accident. Scott’s website has inspired many people (including myself). If you haven’t watched this, here’s Scott’s popular and inpiring TED talk: How to find and do work you love.

Nick Papple is the Managing editor of Success Formula Daily and one of Early to Rise's youngest up and comers. Nick works closely with editor Craig Ballantyne, curating content, writing and editing essays for the daily newsletter. Nick has a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Kinetics from the University of Guelph in Canada. Ge...